Appearing 8:00pm Tuesday 27th March 2018

Peter AstonPeter is the caller/guitarist/singer for the Cottage Industry ceilidh band, a solo singer/songwriter and a medieval wandering minstrel known as Master Peter of Fayrewood. As a solo entertainer he appears at many retirement homes and for charitable and other events, singing everything from war-time singalong classics, through the 50's & 60's to new and original songs.

Anne-Louise Clara
We met Anne-Louise at the Wessex Folk Club, Blandford and were so taken with her voice that we had try to persuade her to sing for us at the Drax. You'll be knocked out by her lovely arrangements. And she's also a very talented artist.

Black Tulip
I've been hoping for some time to get Black Tulip to re-unite and sing to us - Rod Jenkins has played for us several times including one time with the delightful Jane Eyre. They are now back with the full Black Tulip line up and hard at work practicing for us. Whooppee !!!!

Glen RossGlen moved to the Purbecks a few years ago and runs the very successful Folk Concerts in Langton Matravers Village Hall. He sings his own really excellent songs and has featured on the BBC with his band The Creeks. He has sung for us before and we're looking forward to his return.

Richard and Lesley Quayle (resident singers)We've ploughed a route home through the snow from deepest darkest Cornwall and will be opening the night again for you.

We are delighted to be able to welcome back the fabulous Richard Smith, who gave us such an amazing concert last October. He is doing a flying visit to the UK at the end of May and has asked if we'd like to see him again. I've had so many people requesting to see him again that I'd have been mad to refuse.

For those who don't know, Richard Smith is an English virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist, who aged 11 played on the same stage as the late Chet Atkins "the godfather of fingerstyle guitar".

Living in Nashville, he went on to become USA National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion.
He has also performed with other guitar greats, like Tommy Emmanuel, Les Paul and Martin Taylor, surprising audiences everywhere with his genius, showcasing a repertoire spanning an incredible range of musical styles from country, bluegrass, mainstream jazz, modern pop and rock, to classical guitar.

His incredible stylistic wealth is founded in a lifelong love for music. Born in Be­ckenham, Kent, England in 1971, Richard started playing guitar at age 5 under the instruction of his father. Concentrating initially on the country picking of Chet At­kins and Merle Travis, young Richard digested everything he heard, learning even the most complicated of these tunes with ease, and confounding everyone with his dexterity. It seemed that not only did he possess amazing physical skill, but a photographic musical memory as well. Often, a single hearing was all it took to get a piece under his fingers, using all ten to play bass, rhythm and melody simultaneous­ly and creating a universe of sounds, while easily switching between thumbpicking and flatpicking like hardly anybody else.

Here's what Tommy Emmanuel has to say about him:

What fellow musicians say:
"The most amazing guy I know on the guitar. He can play anything I know, only better."
Chet Atkins, CGP (music legend)
"If you like my playing, you should hear Richard Smith! The world champion!"
Tommy Emmanuel AM, CGP (two-time Grammy nominee)
"Guitar playing at its finest. Don't miss this one."
Doyle Dykes (thumbpicking wizard)
"He is one of the world's greatest guitarists."
Muriel Anderson (All-Star Guitar Night)